Hitchcock: The Movie

Hitchcockis
not a biography of Alfred Hitchcock. The movie, released in 2012 carries the story
of Alfred Hitchcock’s relationship with Alma Reville, his wife. The story is
set in the background of the production of his Psycho, in 1959. There is no question regarding the status Psycho holds in the history of world
cinema. Hailed one among the classics, Psycho
remains an entertaining and suspenseful masterwork by the ‘master of suspense’.

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Directed
by Sacha Gervasi, the Academy Award winning director, Hitchcock also portrays the trials and tribulations Alfred
Hitchcock faces through the days of production of Psycho. During his days of fame and controversy, Alfred discovers
the horror novel titled, Psycho,
written by Robert Bloch, an American horror writer. Alfred even dumps Casino Royale for making Psycho a movie avatar. Although Alfred
is puzzled over his own age, and stands answerless in front of the questions by
the reporters about his waning abilities and overly routinized treatment of
movies, the decision to take up Psycho, the novel based on the true story of serial
killer Ed Gein.

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Even
after his reputation and past successes, he was refused to be produced by Paramount
Pictures. This turns the project into a self financed one. Alfred himself
decided to finance the movie, under the label of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, a
television production effort that he had attempted before. Hitchcock, also shows the difficulties Psycho faced in clearing the
hindrances posed by the Motion Picture Production Code. This includes issues
with nudity in the famous bathtub scene.

Rich
with many wonderful scenes, Hitchcock is an impressive attempt at cinematography.
No wonder it won an award from St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for
best scene, “Anthony Hopkins in lobby conducting to music/audience’s reaction
during “Psycho” shower scene.”

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The
actors who portrayed the protagonists are Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock,
and Helen Mirren as Alma Reville. Both of them have given their best. Anthony
Hopkins does not look like Anthony Hopkins at all. Scarlett Johansson plays the
role of Janet Leigh, the woman in the bathtub scene.

Hitchcock is
a meta-movie, a movie about another movie. Although Hitchcock directly reflects upon an episode in the life of the
legendary filmmaker, it also investigates the duality of art and life. Where one
begins and the other start is basic question, it explores. In the end, however,
art is complemented by life. In addition, life, expects the same treatment from
art. At the end, Alfred is shown talking with the audience about how it all
turned out, as a continuation from how Hitchcock
began. It is as if the movie unfolds through the words of Alfred. What fascinated
me about Hitchcock was that the movie
is based on the non-fiction work, Alfred
Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello, published in 1990.

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